Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-03-06

The suu was setting. [ y Ou the hillside
the windows 81 the old stone house ShOue
g!nritiri.
There were six oi the CarStoue children
under the big willow by the mill race that
afternoon. Names AMI ayes respectively
Shirley. u; Tom, ., Percy, :, Brownie,
.: Pet, =, aEl Baby, the ruler Of them all,
not quite ; mouths.
The old stone house stood upcl Il hill.
side. 1t is there still, Tor that matter. Ii
WAS near u century old when our Carstones
lived there. 4 great, cool, double porch
extended across its front. The little win
dnwS were like loopholes OF a fort. This
walls were foot thick. There were deep,
sunny window seats, where generations OF
kittens aud Carstone babies alike curled
upand went To sleep.
The house had belonged 10 the family al
INST from the pioneer days. The grim,
fort like walls had echoed many and many
a year to The sweetest music OF all the
earth the laughter OF children. Shirley
ClrStone's grandmother was born there.
and her father.
Tue family history, as tar hack ~ could
be known, had hesu an especially bright
and sunny one. So much OF innocent mirth
hll sounded through those Wide old rooms;
So many years Of gentle, tender, happy
home life had passed there. that the very
walls themselves seemed To have caught at
length some Of the JOY and light. It was
a fine, strong FLOODED race, with never n
hereditary ailment ut mind or body, never
an inherited flaw Of mcInneSS nr weakness.
No CarstOne had ever shown himselfa COW
ard or been taithleSs to q friend. There
waS = kuightliucSS, 4 gcntleneSS, 4 courage
auI purity in the blood. Ii ran through
the men and women alike.
Great orchards and fields surrounded the
stone house. At the foot of the hill q wide
deep brook ran, heavily fringed with
bcechcS and, shiny barked sycamore. \
stones throw from the hOu$e WAS a big
water mill. n belonged to the estate, and
II. too, Was two generations old. Higher
up. the brook had been partly turned of
into - deep, clear mill race. The water
glided down AMI turned the huge mill
wheel - softly 49, it It WAS afraid of dis.
turhing somebody : afternoon nap.
An, thUsc DAYS were before the age III
iron and steam,
twas herrahout that successive families
of Custonvs had played. The hirsides
were covered still with forest shirley aud
the little oa"s played in their day ~ the
Others did before them. They darlcd in
and outamGDgthe trees ikeSIuirrleS. They
played hopecp like spots .Of sunshine and
shadow over the mill wheel. They rode
the colts bareback aud ran Races with the
calves aud the shaggy house doc. They
whi~tlcd to the bob whites and catbirds
till the ftathered creatures knew not which
was their nate and which a little rogue Of
n Carst0ne.
Ia the spring they dag the turkey pea,
the hloodraat and the fragrant smelling
sasSIlErs. In the fall they gathered the
paw paw and hickory nut. In the winter
they set traps for rabbits and built snow
forts or sat by the wide fireplace, where the
blaziug hickory logs cracked, and guessed
riddles. When they parted for the night
they sang the songs their mother taught
them.
Not q tree i'm the forest hut they knew
from its leaf; not q flower ar 4 shrub but
they uamed by il. name; not q bird or a
wild creature Of the woods but they knew
its hauntS and its habits.
They had a menagerie of pets, these
woodland children. There was Sherry, the
tame crow. Sherry had whipped the ponl-
try yard, till every pullet ran and hid at
the sight Of him. He chased the hens from
their nests and deyoured the eggs. At odd
spells he made q lunch of the buttons of
Sans cnat. HIewOuld alight upon the bare
head Of that respectable cOlOred gentle
man at wholly unexpected times and tan
gle his toes in the dignitied gray wool.
Then Sam hOwled with wrath. Then, too,
every curly headed CIrstone lodged around
the house, choking with hidden laughter,
while the old man madeeomplaint 10 their
father.
go de Lawd, il dat ar crow don't stop
his foolishneSs dar'n he a dead bird roun'
dis plantation, shO'. An dem ehillen a
Iafin' lit to kill"
There was Felix, the educated pig, who
was quite q gentleman. There was Billy,
n Youthful black sheep Of the male sex.
He was erstwhile as sweet and innocent .
Iamhkin rs ever opened his eyes OF q sinful
world. But with the lapse OF time Billy
had crown bold and bad. After that Billy
wasn't 3 pet any more.
But there were plenty left to keep the
circus going. There were so many indeed
that the young mes could hardly find
names for them. After the new schOOlmaS-
ter came he helped them out. He taught
Shirley Latin, and told wonderful tales Of